We are in a battle. The battle of the unseen. The battle of the world around us. The battle of the world within us. The battle is real and therefore understanding that battle, well…is half the battle. No punt intended.
Once you have accepted Christ as your personal Savior and believed what He did on the cross was for you (His death, burial, and resurrection) and you confessed with your mouth, asked God to forgive you of your sins, cleanse you and be your Lord and Savior — you became a new creature that very second (Acts 16:31; Rom. 10:13; 1 John 5:11; 2 Cor. 5:17).
Hinds sight 20/20, we know that we didn’t fully understand everything, did we, and rightfully so for truthfully that is normal and okay for God Himself knew our hearts. But our relationship with God doesn’t start and stop on the day we accepted His salvation through His Son, Jesus Christ. That day marked the beginning of our new life in Christ. That was the beginning of God’s first day of restoration with the love of His life…YOU! Yes, God’s love, His sending His Son to redeem mankind and restore us to Himself was for every human being, but do you realize it was for YOU! The day you became a child of God, Heaven was rejoicing, God did cartwheels (OK maybe not…But do you get how excited He was about YOU?) there were happy tears of joy and all because His love for you is beyond our comprehension. If you were the only person on earth…He would have died for only you that is how much He loves you (Luke 15:7; John 3:16; 1 John 5:13; Rom. 5:8).
Somewhere along the line, throughout the years our salvation: this incredible redemptive love for personal us gets lost in the midst of the happenings of life (whether good or hard if we are not careful). Oh, we are still God’s daughter for we can not lose our salvation, but take a little hear and some there we become distracted by godless things, we grow spirit-complacent, we allow life’s curve balls to draw us away instead of towards Him, we allow the hurts and wounds to be written in stone and our blessings written in dust (if we aren’t careful) I know the list could go on for your mind is already filling in the blanks (John 10:28-29).
But God — (all the while we journey this life) God hasn’t changed one ioda. All the while He is longing to carry us and walk along with us for His love is still the same as the day he created Adam and Eve. His love is still the same as He was on the cross. His love is still the same as the day you accepted His gift of salvation. His love is still the same the day you choose to be bitter instead of better. His love is still the same when you choose to lean on Him for strength rather then yourself. His love is still the same when that someone special entered into eternity. His love is still the same whether or not you reject or accept because He has never ceased to love you (Heb. 13:8; Jer. 31:3; 2 Thess. 2:16).
The battle is very real! Psalm 27:13 is such a precious verse to me personally because on a specific day in time past my family and I had a choice to make — God (better) or self (bitter and believe the devil’s lies about God). That day in the midst of enormous grief from the loss of our third child, I choose to believe in the goodness of God in the land of this living I was in. For God was still good, as hard as it was to walk through that valley (Jer. 17:7).
Sunday was a marker day in history for our family. Eight year later much has happened in heart, life and the growth of our family. My little love that is not seen by any but is my heart, fills my memory and I have the scars to prove it. I would have rather loved upon and nurtured our little love, but through God’s grace and comforting arms I can stand and say that I rejoice in my salvation and the hope of Jesus Christ for one sweet day we shall see each other again all because of Christ!! And that brings comfort to my heart (Titus 1:2; Titus 3:7; 1 John 2:25).
Life many times doesn’t go as planned, but that doesn’t make it wrong or make God the author of “my life is messed up now.” We are warriors in our King’s army. We serve under His command and must train for the battle. We can’t afford to take one step without putting on the full armor of God; we can’t afford to take one step without immersing our souls in His Word daily; we can’t afford to take one step without feasting in meditation on His Scriptures; we can’t afford to take one step without walking in willful obedience to our God. We can’t. For to not put on the armor is to forgo His power in our lives. It means settling for our own human limitations and weaknesses when we have His supernatural limitless strength at our access (Psalm 62:5; Eph. 6).
Sounds super silly to take our limited self over God’s limitless being, but so often we do because we step into battle with a defeatist perspective? We say things like, “Why even try?” or “It will never happen anyway.” and all sorts of other comments. Friends, what if we approached every battle (hardship, challenge, uncertainty, suffering) knowing the outcome is victory! Knowing that at the end — you win! Because that is our life in Christ. In CHRIST we are CONQUERORS. We don’t fight the daily battles wondering if we’ll defeat the foe. We are already victors! Christ won on our behalf! Our actions display our belief in this!
As children of God, we understand we have this spiritual armor of God and we are free to use it or not. We understand through Jesus Christ we can march boldly into battle with confidence knowing the outcome is victory. But we have a choice — reject or accept. Oh friends, allow God to demonstrate His mighty deeds in your life and experience God’s power and glory in a way you’ve never imagined for His love for you desires too.
My fellow warriors are you in? (Rom. 8:37) When most of us hear the word “desperate,” we wouldn’t put the word “warrior” in the same sentence. Surely, a warrior isn’t desperate, right? Remembering this world is not our home we are just passing though (John 18:36; Rom. 12:1-2; Eph. 2:17-22; I Peter 1:1). There is vast opposition between the world’s viewpoints and God’s ways. God will often allow us or lead us to a place of desperation (did God not lead His people into the desert?) so that He can show us His might in our lives (Jer. 33:3; Eph. 6:19-20).
You see, we’ve never been strong. It’s always been God manifesting His strength in us. When we are willing to let God be the mighty One then desperate becomes a powerful word (2 Cor. 12:10; Psalm 51:10; Col. 3:2; Jer. 33:3; Matt. 7:7-8; Isaiah 41:10). “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus…” (Eph. 2:10). Choose Him. You already have the victory. Stand firm my friends, stand firm.
In Christ I am SHE 